I'm in agreeance with tellurian, I have thought it on many occasions, but come up with nothing! Someone in the MeFi world must know!posted by cholly at 4:08 AM on July 23, 2006

Given the exceptionally sugar content and the corrosive effect that this can have on children's behaviour I always assumed that it stood for Little C$%ts Munchiesposted by singingfish at 4:16 AM on July 23, 2006

The Australian Navy seems to define LCM as a Mechanized Landing Craft. That has to be a start. Little, sugary landing crafts, headed straight for your sweet tooth.

On a more relevant note, it seems that the full product names are "LCMs Coco Pops Kaledios," "LCMs Rice Bubbles," "LCMs Rice Bubbles Choc Chip," and "LCMs Rice Bubbles Honeycomb Bits," which sounds like it could be a separate quasi-brand they run those products under, in which case the LCMs may not be descriptive of the product.posted by SemiSophos at 5:00 AM on July 23, 2006

I would bet my left testicle that on the side of a packet of LCMs will be a Consumer Information Hotline number. These are great ways to keep bored call centre staff amused as well as discovering things like what "LCM" stands for.

When you search the Australian trademark database for LCMs, the entry doesn't yield any clues either. (However, you'll note that there are a couple of other Kellogg's things branded LCMs, like LCMs Shakes, so it isn't just a Rice Krispies thing.) I saw that promotion that carson linked to as well; your best bet for an answer, if there even is one, would probably be to contact Kellogg's. Give 'em a call and ask!posted by Gator at 5:13 AM on July 23, 2006

Possibly related factoid: in 1994, the College Board announced that "SAT" does not stand for anything anymore (it previously stood for Scholastic Achievement Test, Scholastic Aptitude Test, and Scholastic Assessment Test).

So, it's possible that LCM is another non-initialism.posted by danb at 7:34 AM on July 23, 2006

Just to point out to all those who are making the effort to ask a real Aussie they know, or translate their answers to US terminology: the asker lives in Canberra. He's an Aussie. He understands 'high school', and he knows other real live Aussies, if he wants random opinions.

grumbles about how US-centric everyone is: even the fucking aussies assume everyone else online is an american!posted by jacalata at 7:39 AM on July 23, 2006

jacalata, I don't think I so much assumed that the OP was American as I figured I'd have a better chance in asking people who had actually seen the products and knew what they were, since Google-fu fails us, and I'd never heard of this phenomenon of marketing until this morning. Perhaps I should have asked some of the European contingent. They'd know. :)posted by po at 7:49 AM on July 23, 2006

That's funny. A friend of mine from Australia just sent me a bunch of Superman-related Kellogg's packaging for my Superman collection, and I was just wondering about this the other day when I posted pictures of them all on my web site. I also don't understand why they are Rice Bubbles in Australia and Rice Krispies here in the U.S.posted by MegoSteve at 12:34 PM on July 23, 2006

jacalata, as you're referring to my post I'll make a point of knowing where the OP lives, but I threw in the explanation for anyone outside of Australia -- they'd have to be pretty dense in the first place to fulfil that criteria! *runs*posted by PuGZ at 1:19 PM on July 23, 2006

I'd bet on "lunchbox cereal & milk".
I tried ringing the NZ helpline but they don't open till 11am (slack!)
I will try later!posted by slightlybewildered at 2:24 PM on July 23, 2006

OK, I rang the helpline, and spoke to an Australian lady.
She says she gets asked all the time.
Her answer: "It doesn't stand for anything. It's just a marketing name"posted by slightlybewildered at 4:02 PM on July 23, 2006

Yeah, just a marketing name, I think. The advertising tagline is (or was?) an equally nonsensical "oldies just don't get it", which I assumed meant that the marketers were trying to generate a sense of a cliquey in-joke or secret amongst the kids as to what LCM stands for - a kind of brand loyalty buy-in, if you like.posted by UbuRoivas at 4:24 PM on July 23, 2006

Confirmed. I just called them (Sydney) and was told it doesn't stand for anything.posted by tellurian at 4:29 PM on July 23, 2006

One of my co-workers advises that in the original TV commercials, LCM stood for Little Children's Meals.posted by Ritchie at 6:59 PM on July 23, 2006

Sorry, that was pretty snarky of me before. posted by jacalata at 7:02 PM on July 23, 2006

I have worked on their marketing. It stands for nothing. Trust me, it was the first thing I asked too.posted by Jubey at 7:28 PM on July 23, 2006

It's a viral thing. Let's Co-opt Metafilter.posted by flabdablet at 8:13 PM on July 23, 2006

Because of the incredibly shitty logo, we used to always know them as "ICMs" at our schools. I only knew until I saw the ad on tv.posted by taita_cakes at 11:56 PM on July 23, 2006

Well, maybe it doesn't officially stand for anything now, but it MUST have stood for something once, and for some reason they don't want to admit it now....I must know!posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:12 AM on July 24, 2006

My brain convinced myself that LCM comes from the Coco Pops "Like a Chocolate Milkshake". I suspect I'm just making that up though.posted by goshling at 8:00 AM on July 24, 2006

Tags

Share

About Ask MetaFilter

Ask MetaFilter is a question and answer site that covers nearly any question on earth, where members help each other solve problems. Ask MetaFilter is where thousands of life's little questions are answered.